Chapter 9

Tara

WAKING up freezing was not a good way to start the morning. I groaned and turned on my back to be greeted by a black ceiling. Blinking the last few webs of sleep away, I pushed myself to sit up on the bed.

The whole room was dark. I looked back behind the bed to see the curtains drawn closed. I had no idea what time it was because there was no clock inside the room.

I tried to recall what happened last night, or earlier this morning. Irene told us that the Alpha of South Forest was dead. A few hours after we left, Alpha Kane was murdered in his bedroom.

I pulled the thick comforter tighter to my body, feeling scared of the things that had happened.

My eyes immediately went to the door when it opened. My mate stopped when he saw me sitting up on the bed. This was his room, but he didn’t sleep here last night. He simply took me here and left without another word. I had no idea where he slept.

Alpha Connor walked towards the window and drew the curtains back. Light filled the whole room; it must already be late in the morning.

I forced myself to get out of bed and I stood looking outside.

“We’re meeting in my office in an hour. My mother will be there. Here are some clothes you can use for the meantime.”

I turned and saw my mate handing me a paper bag. I took it from his extended arm, but I was looking at him the whole time. Even though he had already marked me, it felt like he was still far from accepting me as his mate. He might have shown some strong feelings when he was dealing with the mark on my arm, but aside from that, it was like he didn’t want me to be here in his pack.

“Where did you sleep?” I asked before I could stop myself.

My curiosity had been eating me. My wolf was troubled that our mate didn’t want to stay closer to us.

“The room beside this one,” he answered in a strained voice.

I nodded at this. Well, at least his wolf was also making it difficult for him to stay away from us.

“I’ll just take a shower,” I said to him after some time.

Turning on the left side of the room, I headed for the door that I assumed was the bathroom.

My hair was a mess, oily from the days I was not able to wash it. I tilted my head to the right and brushed my hair aside. My mate’s mark stood out on my skin; it was still fresh with a bit of blood on the punctures. I lifted my hand to touch it and flinched when I felt a light sting on the contact.

The pain I felt when he first marked me was very intense. I remember trying to push him away because the pain was too much. I don’t understand why it was like that, but thinking that we were in such a complicated situation made me realize that it must have been because of the mark on my arm.

I looked down at my arm and cringed when I saw the scar that was in the shape of the banishment mark. The Beta had called it a death mark, but I’ve never heard of such a thing before.

Shaking my head, I proceeded to take a shower. Grateful to finally have a bath after all my trumps in the forest.

After my bath, I covered myself with a towel and looked inside the paper bag my mate gave me earlier. There was a pair of jeans and a white shirt in it. I took a small plastic bag that had some underwear in it, which must be new.

My mate was sitting on the edge of the now made bed. He looked at me and frowned a little. Consciously, I furrowed my eyebrows at his reaction.

He stood up and walked towards me. I stopped myself from taking a step backward when he was about a few inches away.

“You smell like me,” he said and lowered his head on my neck.

I gasped and almost moaned when his lips skimmed along the curve of my neck. My hand automatically lifted, landing on his chest. I can feel the steady beat of his heart, very much unlike mine which was going crazy right now.

“I used your soap,” I answered him, hoping my voice was not shaking.

“No, it’s not the soap.”

I inhaled deeply when I felt his warm breath. Sharp teeth grazed the skin around my mark and I held my breath waiting for what was to happen next. I was almost disappointed when Alpha Connor lifted his head and pulled away from me.

“It’s the mark. Everyone will know you’re my mate,” he said looking me directly in the eyes.

“Is that such a bad thing?” I asked with a small frown.

“Yes.”

I drew in a deep breath and avoided his gaze. My heart dropped hearing that one word. I thought he was going to act better after the marking, but just like the time when I was in prison, he was cold as ice.

“Let’s go talk to Irene,” I said and walked towards the door.

Not waiting for him, I opened the door and turned towards the stairs. I remember the way when he first took me here last night. I walked quickly; my wolf was hurt and was trying to get away from our mate. I could feel him following me, but I never looked back and continued descending the stairs.

I reached the end of the stairway and was about to turn when an arm stopped me. I looked back to see Alpha Connor with a serious look on his face. I pulled my arm from his grip and stepped away.

“What?” I asked a little too angrily.

“Don’t use that tone on me,” he said with a frown.

“Why is that?”

I knew I was trying to provoke him. Me and my wolf were on the same I was mad and so was my wolf. He growled lowly and started walking towards me. I firmly stood my ground, lifting my chin to look at him.

“I’m your Alpha,” he stated when he was near enough that I could almost smell his breath.

I scoffed at his response. He lifted his right hand and brought it around my neck. My eyes widened when he did that. The pressure was strong and I knew it was going to leave a bruise.

“I’m your mate,” he growled at me.

“Then act like one.”

---

“WHAT are you doing to your mate, cousin?”

My head turned in the direction of the voice and I saw Alpha Thomas standing in the hallway. I felt my mate’s grip loosen and he fully let go of his hold but his arm directly went to my hip pulling me closer to him.

“Is there a problem here?” Alpha Thomas asked again as he walked closer to us.

“Stop prying,” my mate answered and turned us away from Alpha Thomas.

I pulled away from him but his grip was tight. He was giving me no chance to get away from him. I scowled at his behavior and tried to pull again, but he sent me a hard look. I sighed and let him deal with his over the top masculinity.

“We’re meeting in the kitchen,” Alpha Thomas said to us and turned back.

My mate guided me further into the house to the kitchen. There we find both of his parents, his three ranked wolves, and Diana. The kitchen was huge with probably the most modern amenities available. Irene was handing out a plate of food to Luke while Charles and Leo were already seated in front of the kitchen island eating something. Alpha Adam was drinking his coffee and Diana was facing away from us into the counter. Thomas walked to her and tugged her hand, pulling her closer to him.

Alpha Connor pulled out a seat beside his father and made me sit there. He pulled another chair and moved it closer to mine and took a seat. I looked up to see Irene handing me a cup of what I assume was coffee. I smiled and took it from her.

“Can you tell us what happened now?”

I looked to my right and saw Alpha Connor looking at his mother. Irene pursed her lips and I saw Alpha Adam stand up. He stood beside his mate and took her hand in his.

“After you left, me and Alpha Kane met with his ranked wolves. He wanted to remove the Veil surrounding the pack,” Irene explained to us.

I saw her hand move to her arm. I remembered that when she arrived, she was bleeding rather badly.

“Veil?”

I turned to look at Alpha Thomas who was not facing Irene. He had a serious look on his face. He never got to explain how he knew that I was from South Forest.

“I’m sorry. I hope that everyone here can be trusted. South Forest still exists. We placed a Veil around it to protect the whole pack,” Irene said looking sad.

I’ve noticed that everyone has stopped what they were doing and was just looking at her now.

“Not even the members of South Forest knew they were trapped inside the Veil,” she continued, now looking at me.

I took a deep breath. This was the only moment I can finally process the situation. This entire time since Irene told us about the Veil, I was never able to think about it being real because there was just too much going on. Everything including my banishment, my mate, and even my own existence seemed to be whirling inside my head and I couldn’t pick which one to worry about first.

“Who else in South Forest knew?” I asked Irene.

“Only a couple of people. This is the reason why no one was allowed outside the pack. It’s why we had strict rules about people even coming near the border. If someone from outside would find out about South Forest, all our work from before would be for nothing.”

“But why? Everybody hated you because we all believed you were the one to lead those rogues and witches in killing the wolves of South Forest. You were a traitor to our kind,” Alpha Thomas said with a frown.

“We had to. It was for the greater good,” Irene simply answered.

“What happened to Alpha Kane?” I asked again.

Even though he was the one to banish me, my wolf was still a little bit attached to him since he was the only Alpha that we ever had. Looking at my side to my mate, I thought about what he said earlier, about him being my Alpha now.

“After the meeting which only ended in a heated debate, we went our own ways. He said he would call a meeting with the Pioneers. Those are the people who created the Veil. A few hours later, the pack members felt a very resonating pain. The bond with the Alpha was gone. He was dead. The warriors immediately checked his room and-”

Irene stopped mid-sentence as a sob escaped her lips. Alpha Adam pulled her closer to him; a sad look was engraved on his face as well. He can feel his mate’s pain with the mate bond.

“He was murdered brutally. I don’t know how not anyone felt that the Alpha was in pain. The warriors couldn’t get a lead on the murderer because the only smell they could find in the room was the Alpha’s,” Irene continued.

She now had an angry look on her face. It was the rage for the murderer of her Alpha, the most respected member of the pack.

“Do you think it was also a wolf who did this to him?” my mate asked after some time.

Irene looked around the room before sighing. She pulled her hand away from her mate’s and lifted both her arms. I frowned at her actions.

I gasped when an image flashed into my eyes. I gripped the marble counter in front of me to steady myself. But as quickly as it had appeared, it also was gone that fast. I looked around at everyone to see that they too had surprised looks on their faces. I heard a sob and saw Diana now hugging her mate. Alpha Thomas was rubbing her back while she sobbed on his chest.

“Was that Alpha Kane?” Luke was the first one to speak.

Irene only nodded. I was sure that image will forever be etched into my memory. I felt a hand on my thigh and I turned to look at my mate. He also had a troubled look on him.

The image that flashed in my mind was of Alpha Kane’s corpse on the floor. Blood was everywhere and even with just an image, I thought I could smell how sickening it was. My stomach churned with the rest of the very vivid picture in my mind. His hands were chopped from his forearms and were placed on the side of his head.

Whoever the killer was definitely a professional terrorist. And as terrorists come, they always want to instil terror. Alpha Kane’s chest was opened and one of his eyes was removed from the socket. The mutilated hands on the side of his head hold those two organs as if presenting them to the world.

I knew, that danger was coming, that darkness was approaching...